How to shift consumers towards sustainable behaviour.

Published on: 28 Aug 2019

Most people would like to live sustainably, but have difficulty taking the necessary actions. According to data analytics company Nielsen, sustainability is the latest consumer trend, but how can this consumer sustainability buzz be translated into action? To find out, the team from The Conversation reviewed 320 academic articles and identified five routes to shift consumers towards sustainable choices.

Making the handy acronym, SHIFT, these five routes are as follows:

Social influence: Humans are social animals and tend to follow the actions of others.

Habits: To build new sustainable habits, one must first break bad ones.

Individual self: Sustainability can appear more attractive when the personal benefits are highlighted.

Feelings and cognitions: When communicating about sustainability, it’s important to consider both the heart and the head.

Tangibility: People don’t care much about abstract, future consequences – it is therefore important to make sustainability tangible.